


01101000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110100 (Heart v5.6)

by bookwormally



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Limitcut, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, how do you tag two different data-Soras, you do not lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22823398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormally/pseuds/bookwormally
Summary: Fighting through the data that Cid compiled is having an...interesting effect on the version of Sora they're using. Well, it's not the first time data has been more than data.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 108





	01101000 01100101 01100001 01110010 01110100 (Heart v5.6)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alliariondak (Sprytemark)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sprytemark/gifts).



> Inspiration for this comes from [this twitter thread specifically ](https://twitter.com/skipperkine/status/1227638659823759360)

The screen flashes black and then reloads the datascape lobby in all its blue and white glory. The code scrolls through the background, the very bones of the datascape exposed. After so much time staring at it, it’s lost most of the wonder. Riku sighs, rubbing at his face. “Damn Vanitas,” he mutters. “Hell.”

“I almost had him that time,” a familiar voice says, echoing strangely through the speakers.

Riku’s head jerks up from his hands. The figure of Sora, normally so still and blank, is pacing back and forth on the screen. Tugging at the spikes of his hair, he mutters to himself about tactics. It’s just like Sora, just like a person, and Riku’s mouth hangs open.

Carefully, he sets his hands back on the keyboard. His finger brushes one of the keys and the Sora figure straightens out immediately. He stands there, shifting his weight from foot to foot as the program normally does. He doesn’t say anything. Maybe Riku’s losing his mind finally. He rubs at his eyes again, blinks several times, and the Sora figure has yet to move on his own.

“Okay,” Riku mutters. “Okay, one more time.”

Minutes later he watches the screen go black and reload the lobby again. He gently thumps his forehead with a fist.

“His openings are so small,” the same voice grumbles through the speakers. “How does somebody teleport so often?”

Riku stares at the keyboard and then looks up slowly. He’s not pacing this time, but the Sora figure taps his chin with his hand. “There has to be a better way,” he mutters.

_ This is ridiculous.  _ Riku leans forward and touches the screen carefully. “Sora?”

“Hm?” The figure on screen looks up and around, then shakes his head. He settles back in his normal stance, hands loose at his sides. Clearly, he’s ready for another try, exactly what he was made for.

Riku leans back from the screen. This is definitely outside of whatever Cid programmed. (Riku doesn’t exactly trust his abilities since he  _ enhanced _ the combat data of the enemy while trying to figure things out). This is very  _ human _ and it’s not the first time he’s seen something like this. He sighs and reaches for the save. He can’t continue, not like this.

“Night, Sora,” he mutters and then logs out. The screen dims and then shuts off and Riku stares up at the ceiling. What the hell to do with this?

* * *

“Excuse me?” Ienzo arches his visible eyebrow. “It’s doing what?”

Riku, seated beside Kairi, shrugs. “He’s talking and making motions on his own. Wouldn’t be the first time data had a heart, right?” He squeezes one of Kairi’s hands and her fingers twitch in his. It's a small comfort that she always seems to be slightly aware of when he’s here. “I don’t want the data to develop a heart and only have, you know, enemies to talk to. That seems cruel.”

Ienzo stares at him, looks down at the console beside him, and then looks back at Riku. “We’ve already had one murderous program in our systems. I don’t think connecting them right now would go well.”

It makes Riku snort. “I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the, the digitized journal Mickey has.” He waves a hand. “It’s got something of Sora already in it.”

“Plus Naminé and Roxas…” Ienzo hums and pulls a gummiphone from his pocket. “I haven’t had time to fully analyze the data there beyond the information we placed in the gummiphone systems, but it is what I started with for Naminé.” His thumbs start moving, tapping something into his phone.

Riku lets him go, turning back to Kairi, who continues to sleep.  _ It’s so similar that it hurts. _ He sighs and squeezes her hand between both of his. “I’m going to get two data-Soras to talk to each other, Kairi. It’s going to be like those ridiculous ‘what would you tell your younger self’ letters except the younger one knows more than the new one.”

Her fingers squeeze his and he smiles.

“Chip, Dale, I need your assistance with something.” Ienzo’s voice echoes slightly through the lab. “Does the computer you used to digitize the journal have an universal internet connection?”

* * *

Glancing at Ienzo for what feels like the third time in a minute, Riku tries to make his leg stop bouncing so fast. Ienzo seems immune to nerves, so it’s only going to convince his friend that he’s childish or something. Okay, maybe his thoughts are in disarray, but still. Riku’s mature and responsible and a keyblade master!

He can feel Ienzo look at him and his leg stops immediately. Riku is a keyblade master entirely petrified of being perceived as anything less than perfect. So sue him, his emotional development has been a little all over the map. A hand touches his shoulder and he looks up. Ienzo smiles at him. “We’re all set. The connection is ready and we’ll open it properly once you’re logged in.”

“Right. Yeah.” Riku shoots him an awkward smile and turns to the computer. Cid’s program is waiting and it only takes a couple keystrokes to bring the program online. Sora’s figure is waiting, just as blank as before, but he  _ knows _ what he saw. Sora’s memories, his being, are strong enough to make a heart grow anywhere.

Riku clears his throat and pulls his hands from the keys. “Hey, Sora. We’re going to bring a couple people to meet you.”

The figure on screen looks up immediately. “Huh?” He looks to the left as a new door opens, one that’s a pure white gate. His fingers spread slightly, but no keyblade appears. Stepping through the gate is a young man, shorter than him and dressed in a familiar long black coat. Shoulder-length silver hair frames a too-familiar face and Sora glares. “You!”

His fingers spread and clench, calling his keyblade to hand. He darts forward, watching as the false copy of his friend widens his eyes.  _ As if he’s capable of shock. _ Sora knows it’s all an act. In a moment, he’ll find Soul Eater pointed at him, ready to wrap him in claws of darkness. He twists into the air, keyblade swinging out.

“Wait!” Something flashes and then there’s someone else between him and his target. Sora looks at a perfect match of his own face and pulls his blow. The keyblade disappears and he twists to complete the rotation and land on his feet. He stares down at the image of himself at 14 and then tips his head to the left side.

The younger Sora grins at him. “Thanks! Riku’s got too much information in his head and we really don’t want it all getting knocked out!” He drops his hands to his sides, still smiling. “Told you I’d get taller than you,” he says to the Riku in the coat, smug.

“That is not how the data works  _ and _ we have no proof that I didn’t grow too.” Riku nudges Sora with his elbow. Looking up at Sora clearly makes him uncomfortable though, his eyes bouncing between the two of them.

The taller Sora glares at him. “Why are you wearing their coat?”

Riku looks down at it and tugs on the zipper. “Um, reasons?”

“It’s just what he wears.” His Sora waves a hand. “But he’s a good guy, I promise. I’m guessing you’ve been fighting a lot of black coated people, huh?”

Sora looks at him and nods, his face easing. He can’t distrust himself.

The other Sora shakes his head. “What a crazy mess! I thought dealing with the weirdo bugs was already a mess. You’re fighting people!”

Sora’s gaze slides back to the Riku and sharpens. Riku stares back at him. 

“Hmm, you know, we better sort out names right now or this is going to get confusing.” Stepping between the two of them, he leans up on the balls of his feet to stare at his older self. “I’m Sora and you’re Sora, but we’re not the same. Riku, what do you think?”

Riku looks between them. “He could be Sora 2.”

His Sora snorts. “You’re not good at this.”

“And you are?”

“I’m trying! How about B-Sora?” Sora grins up at him. “You know, for big!”

Riku sighs and drops his face into his hand. “Computer programs aren’t creative.”

“Oh shut up.” Sora elbows him. “I think Roxas is plenty creative when he talks to you.”

“Those are insults.”

“Exactly! So, what do you think? Are you okay with being B-Sora?” The smaller Sora holds his hand out toward his almost double.

Having watched the quick conversation, he’s not sure. These two are very different from anyone he’s fought. They’re...strange, but they haven’t attacked him yet. He wouldn’t fight himself. (And they’re both kind of small.) Decided, B-Sora nods. “That’s fine.”

Sora pumps a fist. “Awesome. So, now we can do something fun!”

B-Sora should probably contribute to this somehow. Something in him says to. He looks around. “...Beating Saïx is pretty easy. He gets mad when you shoot  _ waterga _ at him constantly.”

The other two trade a look. Riku shrugs. “I’m not much of a fighter.”

“We’ll save Saïx for another time. Maybe we could show you where we’re from.” Sora gestures to the still open white gate. “We’ll come back here once we’re done. Promise!”

Leave? He can’t leave. His work’s not done yet. Too many of the doors are still blue, waiting for him to try again, to win. If he doesn’t win, if he doesn’t finish… He can’t do that. B-Sora flattens his lips and shakes his head. “I have to-.”

_ Take a break. _

The voice comes from everywhere and nowhere like it usually does and B-Sora shifts. The other two are staring upward in interest, but they don’t say anything. Take a break? He trusts the voice; it guides him. But he’s not sure about this… “We’ll come back?” he asks carefully.

Sora nods. “Yes. You’ll come back. Everyone deserves a break from fighting,  _ trust me _ . We have some really nice places to visit.” He offers a hand. “Do you remember the islands?”

B-Sora takes it. Unlike everything here, blue and white and bursting into stars of pain, the hand around his is warm. He looks into blue eyes, exactly like his, and carefully smiles.

“They’re home.”

**Author's Note:**

> Might come back around to this because I'm all :eyes: toward B-Sora becoming the big brother of the group and also just having him meet data-Roxas. So, subscribe if you're interested I guess!


End file.
